Making Christmas Cool in Vancouver

The problem with being young and hip at Christmas is trying to find something cool enough to do. Listening reverently to choirs or watching family-friendly musicals is fine and all, but chances are you’ll be surrounded by lots of nice churchgoing people. If you’re anything like us, nice and churchgoing isn’t exactly what you’re looking for.

You, dear XYVR reader, want to have your Yuletide jollies with a bit of an edge. Cryptic Music’s Unsilent Night fits that bill. Now in its seventh year, Unsilent Night is a 40-minute-long electronic caroling parade for which participants are asked to bring along a portable tape, CD or MP3 player with external speakers. They’re then given one of four “parts” of a musical creation to play. As the parade winds its way through the West End and downtown, the sounds morph and blend together – thanks to each person’s natural gait and their respective machine’s playback speed.

Unsilent Night will take place on Sunday December 23. Meet at the Tree of Lights on English Bay (Beach Avenue at Bidwell Street, near the Inukshuk) at 6:45 pm and start walking at 7 pm. The route goes through the West End to Robson Street and ends at the outdoor ice rink at Robson Square. To reserve your musical “part,” contact Colin or Andrea MacDonald at (604) 875-9522 or colin@crypticmusic.ca.